Head gaskets

[faderuther]

I have a 1983 Transporter1.9 petrol , how long roughly, should it take to replace the head gaskets? I'd appreciate an educated estimate of time on this please.

[Ian Hulley]

You cannot give an estimate as there are so many variables ... things that could go horribly wrong.

Ian

[faderuther]

That a fair comment, but lets assume nothing goes wrong.

[California Dreamin]

As you are probably aware. The wasserboxer engine was adapted from it's 'Air Cooled' ancestor with the addition of water jackets (Obviously there's a bit more to it than that) but essentially this means the design leaves the head bolts surrounded by engine coolant (in most engines they are dry).
Not a problem if ALL the owners have adhered to strict and regular coolant changes but unfortunately this is often unknown and damage (corrosion) may have previously occurred under someone else's 'watch'.

So the reality is these bolts often break turning the relatively easy job into a nightmare.

Martin

[Ian Hulley]

Engine out & onto bench (simplist method) ~2 hours
Exhaust off (disregarding breakages) ~1 hour
Cooling system components off ~1 hour
Rocker gear off both sides ~1/2 hour
Undoing head studs ~1/2 hour
Getting head off without pulling the barrels - Priceless

[faderuther]

How long to put it back together?

[Ian Hulley]

How long to put it back together?

You missed the point ... Exhaust bolts are notoriously poor and snappy, head studs likewise (as Martin told you) if the liner(s) pull with the heads (which they often do) you have to remove the barrels, re-seal them and refit over the piston rings ... without breaking them ... and then you start with carefully stretching the pushrod tubes slightly if you want to re-use them, cleaning everything up, while the head's off you'd re-grind the valves in (that's IF you want to re-use them), apply sealant to the waterjacket and re-assemble IF everything has gone smoothly. Then you'll probably find the engine mounts are buggered so you'd replace those, and the clutch, and the spigot bearing, and the starter motor oilite bush ....

Do you see what I mean ?

Ian

[faderuther]

Yes I do, My van is in the shop, it took 8 hrs to get the heads off, bearing in mind the head studs were under torqued so they were no problem, one head was a "buggar " to get off and he only snapped one bolt on the exhaust, so had to re drill and tap that one, but now he say's another 8 hours to put it together..so 16 in all..I want some idea if this is a lot of hours for a job that went relatively smoothly?

[Ian Hulley]

In and running perhaps 8 hours with the jobs I've mentioned done and with a guarantee ...

Depending on their hourly rate you are just realising why so many people opt for a guaranteed 'reconditioned' exchange unit (around £1000) when this job crops up, removing and re-fitting an engine is a doddle it's the stripping and re-assembly that's time-consumming and potentially it could all go Pete Tong at the last minute.

All the best with it, Ian.

[faderuther]

He didn't take the engine out either. If this is the typical amount of time for this job, then it's fine. What I'm hoping for is for someone to say how long it took them to do one, without any hiccups and for others to say how long with various problems. hopefully some one who has done a few of these themselves, would be ideal so i can get a rough idea.

[kevtherev]

reassembly takes extra time.. because you should be getting careful about it.
it not being out adds to the time because it's less accessible